


The Stolen Child

by Child_of_the_Fae



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist, Coraline - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Child Death, Gen, Kidnapping, Mind Control, Trauma, child-Rin, original lore, original-Beldam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-07-15 08:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16059761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Child_of_the_Fae/pseuds/Child_of_the_Fae
Summary: At age eight, Rin is taken away by something unknown, waking up in a mysterious city where he is taken in by a group of children led by an older girl who promises to protect him. But all is not as it seems as Rin's family finds him seven years later in the clutches of a demon and having not aged a day.





	1. Missing

**Author's Note:**

> I have only watched the first season of the anime, so there’s not going to be anything from the manga in here, so if there was something revealed about Rin or another character it’s not going to be in this story either. That being said, when I watched the anime, the ideas flowed, but this idea was one of the few that actually came as a complete idea rather than half formed, and I ended up falling in love with the idea.

Fujimoto Shiro sat alone in his office, a pile of documents and a bottle of sake in front of him, the glass for the sake discarded in favour of drinking straight from the bottle. The documents lay unmoving for hours, Shiro stared at the page in front of him but didn’t register the words.

He then sighed and pushed his work away, realising that he wouldn’t be getting anything done today, he just wasn’t in the mood. Today was the anniversary after all, of the day his son went missing.

Shiro’s eyes drifted over to the photo frame that sat on his desk and he picked it up, smiling at the two faces that grinned back at him. It was the last picture he had of them together, taken only days before one of them disappeared, he had taken them to the beach and snapped the photo of them standing proudly next to their sandcastle, poor Yukio had gotten a nasty sunburn that day, and Rin had slipped in the rock pools, getting scrapes on his knees and elbows that he had insisted didn’t hurt even thought it was clear they had.

Yukio was now a fully trained exorcist, even becoming the teacher to the next group of exorcists in training even though he was the same age as them, a promising exorcist prodigy that Shiro was proud of.

And Rin?

Shiro let out a heavy sigh.

Rin had gone missing seven years ago to the day.

Shiro still remembered that day clearly.

* * *

“Hello?” Shiro answered his phone.

He was currently on a mission involving a string of mysterious injuries happening to the residence of a small area, he predicted that he wouldn’t be back home until late in the afternoon.

“Mister Fujimoto, I’m afraid that there’s been another incident at school regarding your son.” The recognisable voice of the school receptionist answered back.

Shiro sighed. “What happened?” He asked regrettably.

“Your son has managed to injure another student as well as the teacher who pulled him away from the child. We’d like you to come in to discuss the matter as well as take him home.” The receptionist listed off firmly.

Shiro looked at his watch.

“I’m currently occupied with matters out of the city, and it’ll take me a few hours to get back.” He said, the case wasn’t serious at the moment, so he could afford to leave it to the others.

The receptionist didn’t speak but he could hear her speaking to someone else in the background.

“We will send him home now and speak to you tomorrow, is that acceptable?” The receptionist asked.

“Yes, thank you.” He’d rather speak to Rin first anyway. “Goodbye.”

Putting away his phone, Shiro went over to his team and spoke with them about leaving.

“I’m surprised that you don’t get into more trouble with how much that kid of yours pulls you away from work.” One of his team commented as Shiro wrote down his current observations so that he could leave.

“Whoever oversees our missions must have a problem child of their own.” Another added.

“I’d appreciate if you didn’t refer to my son in such away.” Shiro told them coldly.

The two quickly shut up.

Shiro handed over the papers and left.

It took a few hours, but Shiro eventually arrived home.

“Rin!” He called as he entered the monastery.

“You’re back early.” One of the priests said.

“Rin got in trouble again.” Shiro said. “Where is he?”

The priests looked at each other.

“We haven’t seen him.” Another answered.

Shiro felt a shot of ice go through him, but he quickly quelled it, telling himself he was overreacting.

“I was told that Rin was being sent home after his incident at school.” He told the priests.

The priests gave worried looks.

“Check Rin’s room to see if he snuck past you and contact Yukio at cram school to see if he knows where he is if he’s not in his room, I’ll go to the school, it should still be open.” Shiro said, taking charge.

“Okay.” The priests answered.

Shiro left again, heading towards his children’s school, on the way getting the message that Rin wasn’t hiding in the monastery, quickening his pace at the news.

“I’m sorry, but we’re closed for today.” The receptionist said as Shiro arrived.

“I’m looking for my son.” Shiro said.

“I’m pretty sure that there aren’t any children left in the school, the cleaners would have found anyone who stayed and brought them here.” The receptionist answered.

“Rin’s not here?” The ice was back, stronger than before.

“Oh, Mr Fujimoto!” The receptionist now recognised him. “We sent Rin home hours ago, the paperwork says that he was fine to walk home alone.” The receptionist began to look worried too. “Did he not arrive home?”

Shiro shook his head.

“Would you like me to phone the police?” The receptionist asked nervously.

“No, I’ll do it myself if I can’t find him.” Shiro told her, quickly leaving.

Shiro phoned the monastery as he ran towards the park, hoping that Rin was sulking there instead of heading home.

“Did you find anything out from Yukio?” Shiro asked as soon as the phone picked up.

“All he told us was that his teacher told him that Rin had been sent home early after the fight.” Was the answer.

Shiro cursed, both at the answer and because he arrived at the park to find Rin nowhere to be found.

He took a deep breath to calm himself.

“Contact the police and organise a search party to find Rin.” He told the priest.

The priest was silent for a second. “Yes, Shiro.” His voice was strained.

The search went on for hours, the police, priests, and a few volunteers splitting up to search the area for Rin. As they searched, Shiro prayed that Rin had simply gotten lost, he’d taught the boy not to go with strange people or take things from them, and Rin was strong enough to fight off attackers even as just a boy, but it was still a possibility that Shiro didn’t want to think of.

“Over here!” One of the volunteers called out.

Everyone nearby rushed over, Shiro pushing to the front.

The person who called out handed Shiro a backpack, Rin’s backpack.

“I found it just lying there.” The person explained.

“Is this-” A police officer began to ask.

“Yes.” Shiro answered sternly.

“Call all the volunteers to this area and spread out for more clues.” The officer called to the other officers.

Still holding Rin’s backpack in a tight grip, Shiro continued his search, calling out his son’s name frequently.

* * *

They never found him.

Rin’s backpack was the only clue they found, no other indication as to what happened to him or where he went, only that he was likely taken due to his backpack being found just lying on the ground.

Shiro still remembered holding a sobbing Yukio that night, when the boy realised that his brother was gone, and then again when the search was officially called off and Rin became just another name on the list of missing children.

The two of them never gave up though, despite the seven years since Rin disappeared, Shiro and Yukio continued to look, searching for any scrap of evidence for where he went, fighting to bring him back home. Others told them that it was likely Rin wasn’t even alive anymore, but Shiro, Yukio and the monks of the monastery knew something those people didn’t, the kurikara.

The blue flames still burned behind the seal, flames that would have surely gone out without their true owner still alive. The flames that they feared had become a source of comfort for the family, for as long as they burned, they knew that Rin was still out there somewhere, waiting to be found.

Shiro placed the photo frame back in its place and checked his messages, he had a new case.

With a parting glance at the photo, Shiro opened his door using the key that took him to the central headquarters to receive the details of the case and who he’d be working with.


	2. Off to sleep

**(7 years ago)**

Rin rubbed at his eyes furiously as he ran, trying his best not to cry.

It wasn’t fair!

The other boy had started it, throwing insults at him that were so hard to ignore, pushing and pushing until Rin had to push back, or rather, punch back. He was just so angry, the things that boy was saying about Yukio and his family, so he hit the boy, and then hit the teacher by accident in his anger.

And the teachers had blamed it all on him, not listening to Rin when he tried to explain, telling him that he shouldn’t resort to violence over ‘harmless teasing’. The boy got out of it without even a scolding while Rin got suspended again and sent home on his own because his father was away.

Frustrated, angry at the world, and fearful at how his father would react to him being suspended again, Rin did the only thing his young mind could think of and ran. He had no direction in mind, all he knew was that he needed to get away, to try and outrun his problems.

Eventually, Rin came to a stop, exhausted and still upset, he slumped down where he stood and sobbed into his hands.

“It’s not fair.” He sobbed into his hands. “They never understand!”

So wrapped up in his misery, he gave no notice to what approached him from the shadows.

* * *

Rin moaned as he came to, rubbing his eyes as he tried to make sense of what happened. The last he remembered was breaking down, and then nothing. Apparently, he’d fallen asleep or something.

But what he woke up to was certainly not where he last remembered.

The ground beneath him was overgrown, coming up from beneath cracked pavement and crawling up the walls of buildings, the buildings themselves in various states of disrepair, windows smashed, and some buildings caved in in areas, cars sat abandoned on the road, rusted with plants also growing over them. And it was quiet, Rin couldn’t hear a single other person, not even any animals.

“Where am I?” Rin questioned as he stood up and began walking through the ruined streets. “Hello!” He called out.

There was no answer.

“Hello!” He called again desperately.

Still, no one came.

Rin’s eyes began to burn as more tears came, he was alone in this strange place, he didn’t recognise anything. The dilapidated buildings were unfamiliar, he didn’t recognise the faded shop signs, and he couldn’t see any sign of the clock tower his father had told him to head to if he or Yukio ever got lost.

Rin began running desperately, turning random corners, hoping to catch sight of something familiar that would lead him back home.

From the distance, he was watched by a set of eyes.

“Hello! Please, someone!” Rin cried as he continued to run, until he found himself exhausted. “Where am I?”

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound nearby and something flashed in the corner of Rin’s vision.

“Hello?” He asked hopefully.

There was more rustling.

He turned a corner and spotted a human-shaped figure not far away.

Rin let out a breath of relief. “Can you help me, I’m lost and don’t know where…” He trailed off as he finally got a good look at who he was talking to.

What was a more accurate word. The figure was skeletal, wearing no clothes to hide its emaciated body, it had long arms with long fingers tipped with long claws, it was completely bald, and its belly stuck far out from the rest of its body like a melon. When it turned to face him, Rin could only register fear, its eyes were sunken in and wide like it had no eyelids, and its teeth were on display with no lips covering them.

The thing turned to face Rin fully, gnashing its teeth together.

Rin began stepping back nervously and the thing opened its mouth and let out an inhuman screech.

Rin screamed in fear, turning and running, hearing the pounding of feet behind him. Around him, more of the creatures emerged from the shadows, creeping out from between building, screeching and giving chase.

Rin ran until he found himself backed into a corner, the creatures advancing towards him.

“Hey!” A voice suddenly called out.

Rin looked up to see someone leap down from above him, landing between him and the creatures, brandishing a jagged metal pipe. Said pipe was then lodged in the chest of one of the creatures, which gave a screech of pain and fell over, the pipe was pulled out of its body and swung at another creature, striking it across the face. The creatures back away in fear and pain, wary of the pipe but also testing their way forward, only kept at bay when the jagged metal was swung their way.

Rin’s saviour then reached into their bag and threw something on the floor, smoke quickly spewing out of it, obscuring everything from sight.

Rin coughed and tried to clear the smoke from his eyes when he felt a hand latch onto his arm.

“Come on.” It was his rescuer.

With no other options, Rin allowed himself to be pulled along through the smoke, until they had cleared it. None of the creatures were in sight, but they kept running until his rescuer deemed them a safe distance.

Now that they had stopped, Rin was finally able to get a good look at who had rescued him. It was a girl, much older than him, her hair was brown and tied in a ponytail with a tattered bow, she wore a high school uniform that was slightly dirty and tattered as well.

“Are you alright?” She asked.

“Yes, thank you.” Rin said, coughing slightly.

The girl frowned slightly. “Given that you were loudly proclaiming your location, I’m guessing that you’re new here.” She said.

“I guess so.” Rin said. “Where is here?”

“That’s a bit hard to explain.” The girl said.

She then looked up at the sky.

“Darkness is falling, we need to get to the hideout quickly.” She said.

She turned and began walking, Rin quickly following.

“Why?” He questioned.

“Those creatures you encountered are much more active during the night, it’s incredibly dangerous.” The girl answered.

“Oh. I’m Rin, by the way.”

The girl turned her head towards him as she continued to walk.

“Well, Rin, you can call me Mami.” She said.

* * *

Mami’s hide out was in some random building, she knocked on the door in a pattern and it opened. With one last scan of the area around them, she went inside, Rin following.

Inside the building, there were more children, gathered around in a room doing their own activities. They were all young like him, some slightly older and some younger, Mami seemed to be the oldest of their group by quite a few years.

“Children.” Mami called for attention. “This is Rin, the newest member of our family.”

“Hey.” Everyone gave their own variations of greeting.

Mami began to introduce all of the children. “Here we have Akiko, Yamato, Chiro, Isamu, Kagami, Ken and-”

Rin let out an _‘oof’_ as something impacted him in the stomach, looking down he saw that is was a girl about half his age.

“That’s Suzy.” Mami finished with a laugh. “She’s very affectionate.”

“Hi.” Suzie greeted smiling up at him.

“Hi.” Rin smiled back.

Mami guided Rin over to a chair where he sat down, giving an exhaust smile, beside them a fire burned, providing warmth to the room, a few of the children were gathered around it, sitting on the floor in order to be closer. Mami sat down next to him and quickly found herself with a lapful of Suzy.

“Now that we have time to rest, I guess it’s time to explain, as best as I can at least.” Mami said, absentmindedly stroking Suzy’s head. “The truth is that none of us know where we are or even how we came to be here, we all just woke up here. And haven’t been able to find a way back home, so far.”

“What about those monsters?” Rin asked, eyeing the window.

One of the children, Ken, walked over to the window and drew the curtain across it, as if the creatures would be summoned to the window my mention of them.

Mami shook her head. “All we know is that they usually come out at night and want to…hurt us.”

“You mean kill us!” One of the children exclaimed.

“Yamato!” Mami scolded. “He’s new here, don’t lay something like that on him.”

“Why not? It’s what happens to all the others, he should know.” Yamato protested.

“They’re going to kill us?” Rin asked fearfully.

He already knew that, the way the creatures had attacked him, but that didn’t mean he had to like hearing the confirmation.

Mami sighed. “They try to, and sometimes they will catch one of us off guard.”

“But Oneesan keeps us safe.” Suzy interrupted this time. “She fights off the monsters.” She swung around her hand like she was holding a sword.

“I do my best.” Mami laughed. “I keep everyone safe her, and we scavenge for supplies during the day. Thankfully, whatever happened to this place left the shops mostly untouched.”

“What did happen here? Where’s all the other people?” Rin asked, remembering the empty and overgrown streets.

He was met with shrugs.

“We know as much as you.” Chiro shrugged.

“This city isn’t any we belong to.” Mami agreed. “Thankfully, I’ve been around long enough to know where all the best places to scavenge in the city are.”

“Mami-san’s been here longer than any of us.” Akiko told Rin. “She found all of us and brought us here to be safe.”

 “Thank you.” Rin said, thanking Mami again for his rescue.

“Well, I wasn’t just going to leave you to wander the streets alone with the monsters, it’s my job as big sister to protect all of you.” Mami said, pulling Rin into a one-armed hug.

“Big sister?” Rin questioned.

“Well, that’s what the children started calling me?” Mami smiled as she explained.

“I’ve never had a big sister?” Rin said.

“Well, now you do. Along with plenty other brothers and sisters.” Mami told him. “We’re all a family here, and family stick together.”

“Yeah.” The other children agreed.

“A family.” Rin tested the word. “But I already have one.” He thought of his father and brother, who were no doubt looking for him by now.

“We all did.” Kagami told him. “But some of us have been here for a long time, so we’ve made a new family here.”

“There’s no way out.” Yamato added. “A fog surrounds this city.”

“And no one’s ever come out from it after going in.” Finished Isamu.

“Alright, stop scaring him.” Mami interrupted, seeing that Rin was starting to become upset. “And you never know, we may find a way back one day. There was a way into this place after all, so there has to be a way out.” She added comfortingly.

“I hope so.” Rin said.

“But, until then, it’s time for bed.” Mami said, standing up and positioning Suzy onto her hip.

“Aww.” The children groaned.

“None of that now.” Mami chastised with a gentle smile. “We need to be bright eyed for the morning.”

There were some more grumbles of complaint, but everyone got up and made their way to the door, a few trying to hide their yawning.

“What about the fire?” Rin asked, looking back at the fireplace where the embers continued to glow.

Though the monastery had a burning stove instead of actual fireplaces to keep it warm during winter, he knew enough about fire safety from school that you weren’t supposed to leave open flames unsupervised.

“It’s alright.” Mami assured him, moving a grate in front of the fire. “I’ll be coming back once you’re all to bed, and it’s almost out anyway.” She gave a yawn herself.

‘Bed’ turned out to be a collection of futons pushed together, everyone grabbed a pillow and blanket from the pile of them next to it and chose a random spot to lie down on, thankfully there was a pillow and blanket each left over for Rin.

Mami set Suzy down and sat on the futon with her back leaning against the wall, the youngest quickly shuffled up so that her head could rest on the older girl’s legs, the other children had also migrated towards Mami once she had sat down, seeming unbothered by having so little space, in fact they seemed to cuddle up to each other. It left Rin with plenty of space at the other end of the futon.

“Lullaby” Suzy yawned.

Mami smiled down at her fondly, and then began to hum. The tune was gentle, and the children relaxed at the sound of it. Then she began to sing.

“~Watashi was asa no yume wo miru

    Made dame yo

    Made dame yo

    Nani iro no asa ga kuru

    Made dame yo

    Made dame you

    Mada yoru was tabekake you

    Nemutteru ko wa doko ni iru?

    Saa ohayou Nightmare

    Warui oyume wa korekkiri~”

Rin’s eyes quickly grew heavy as Mami sang, in his doze he could almost hear more than one singer.

As he began to drift off, he was aware of Mami carefully extracting herself from the pile of children cuddled up to her, and then make her way over to him.

“Now what are you doing here by yourself?” He heard Mami ask quietly.

He then felt himself being lifted slightly and gently deposited next to someone, causing him to stir slightly.

“You’ll be happier with everyone else.” Mami said.

Rin cracked open an eye to look at Mami and then let out a whimper when he heard the screech of the creatures outside.

Mami frowned. “Usually everyone’s asleep when they start making their racket.” She said. “It’s alright, sweetie.” She sat down next to Rin to comfort him.

“Will they get in while we sleep?” Rin asked fearfully.

“No.” Mami assured him. “I’ll stay up and keep watch, so you have nothing to worry about. Big sister will protect you.”

Rin continued to shake, but then the person he was lying beside turned and an arm was draped over him.

“See, we’re all here for each other, Isamu will keep you safe too.” Mami told him. “Now, my child, the fire has died, and night is dark and deep. Close your eyes, let go, and drift off to sleep.”

Rin smiled as he closed his eyes.

“You got that from a story book.” He yawned before dropping off.

Mami’s humming of her lullaby carried him off to sleep.


	3. Surviving

“Come on! This way! Hurry!” Rin called.

Eyes carefully scanning the buildings, he darted across the street, multiple figures following him.

“Is everyone here?” He asked.

“Yes.” One of the children answered.

“What are we waiting for?” Another of the children asked, their newest member.

“For Mami’s distraction.” One of their group informed them.

A flare suddenly went up in the distance, followed by loud noises.

“That’s the signal.” Rin said.

The children stayed put however, listening as the creatures who dwelt around during the day began running out of their hiding places and down the street, towards where the noise was coming from.

“Coast is clear.” One of the children reported.

“Let’s go.” Rin said.

The children ran into the open street, usually a bad idea with the creatures walking around, but they were currently distracted, they quickly reached a set of shops.

“Alright, Kiki’s team is on clothes, my team is on food. Go!” Rin instructed.

The children split off into two groups, one set of children going into a clothing store while the other set went into the supermarket.

“Rin, some help.” One of the children called to him.

There was a car blocking the way into the supermarket.

“Hang on.” Rin said, going over.

Bracing his feet against the ground, Rin put his hands on the trunk and began to push with all his strength, the car barely moved. As Rin struggled to move the car, one of the children looked inside of the car’s open window.

“Would it help if I pulled off the breaks?” She asked cheekily.

Rin huffed. “Yes.”

The girl reached into the car and pulled off the break, the car then suddenly began to move as it rolled out of the way of the door, Rin pushing it all the way.

“We’re lucky to have you.” One of the children commented as they ran into the shop.

Rin smiled at the compliment before following.

The children were quick to fill their bags, Mami’s distraction would only work so long and the creatures would soon be back.

As Rin filled his own bag, he saw his reflection in the window, still eight years old despite the many years that had passed by now. Mami had explained to him that they didn’t age in this place they were trapped in, but only he and Mami had stuck around long enough to experience that, the others were long gone.

“We’ve got everything.” One of the children interrupted his thoughts.

Rin nodded, slinging his own bag over his shoulder, heading to the exit and checking that the coast was still clear, his group then ran across the street, joined by Kiki’s group.

“Ok, head count.” Rin announced. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. That’s all of us.”

As the children snuck their way through the city, Rin’s thoughts drifted towards the past again.

The first to go had been Isamu, disappeared during a supply run and never came back. Next had been Kagami, dragged away by the creatures, Yamato being taken in a similar fashion a little while after that. One by one, their group had been taken, even little Suzy had disappeared after being left behind at their hideout, until only Rin and Mami remained of their original group.

But like Rin, other children appeared, brought to the safety of the hideout by Mami, and like the others, they too would disappear or be dragged away by the creatures, only to be replaced by another child found by Mami. Many years later and Rin and Mami’s ‘family’ had changed members many times.

Their current members included Kiki, Daisuke, Emi, Jiro, June, Mami and himself.

Eventually, they made it back to their hideout, which had changed locations a couple of times after Rin had first arrived. After another quick headcount to make sure that none of them had gotten lost on the way back, they all went inside.

Mami was already there, stoking the fire that provided their hideout with warmth and a sense of safety. One by one, the children went over to her and gave her a hug, which Mami accepted with her usual gentle smile, the children then went about unpacking the results of their supply run.

When it came to Rin’s turn, he refused to let go.

“Is everything alright, angel.” Mami asked him, sweeping his hair out of his face with her fingers.

“Bad memories.” Rin mumbled into her chest.

“Oh, it’s alright.” Mami comforted, wrapping her arms around him tightly and rocking them both. “I’m here. As long as I’m here, everything will be alright.”

They parted and Rin went over to help with the unpacking, some jeans were quickly thrown at him.

“Here.” Emi said. “I think they’re your size and your ones are falling apart.”

Rin looked down at the jeans he was currently wearing, they were frayed at the bottom with bits of material dangling off, the frays would make their way up his legs eventually. Despite never growing, the children still had to change clothes when they got too battered.

“Do you need anything, Mami?” Emi asked.

“I’m fine for now.” Mami denied.

Rin couldn’t help but roll his eyes, because that was always Mami’s answer when asked about clothes. She still wore the same school uniform as she always had, yet unlike Rin whose own uniform had been long replaced, Mami’s clothes remained in a not perfect but wearable condition. Rin suspected that for some reason, Mami preferred to wear a uniform instead of normal clothes and would grab uniforms identical to hers to replace her old ones whenever she disappeared off on her own, it was the only explanation he had for why her outfit had never changed since he met her.

“Did you have any trouble, Mami?” Daisuke asked once they had all settled down.

“Nah.” Mami waved off. “Your Mami is too smart for those monsters, I was gone before they even arrived.”

“Mami-san is so cool.” Jiro said.

“I like to think so too.” Mami joked. “Now, did we manage to get everything?”

June, the oldest of the children bar Mami, looked up from where she had finished counting the food Rin’s group had gotten. “We should have enough for about a week.” She reported.

“Good, no more putting ourselves in danger for now then.” Mami said happily.

“Except for you.” Kiki pointed out.

“I have to if I want to find the children end up here and bring them back safely.” Mami responded. “And you don’t need to worry about me, those monsters are no match for me.”

“I wish I could fight the monsters too.” Rin pouted.

“I know you do, but we can’t risk that. I’m older, I can make that decision, but I could never live with myself if you got hurt trying to fight. You don’t want to do that to me, do you?” Mami told Rin.

“No, Mami.” Rin said, shaking his head.

“Good. Now, let’s get you all fed.”

* * *

Shiro, Yukio and their group trekked their way through the trees, making their way towards the destination they had worked out on a map after collating the evidence of their research.

Their case involved missing children, which is why Shiro had quickly accepted despite what day it had been. Over the years, many children had disappeared never to be found, and just recently someone had managed to link the disappearance to demon activity but had little luck working out much else, which was why Shiro was brought in. The Paladin was charged with researching the disappearances, working out the location of the demon, and slaying it.

It hadn’t been an easy job, and it would have been harder without Yukio there to help him, they had to work out the regular children disappearances from the ones who disappeared due to the demon, then they had to work out the common thread between those children, and then use that common thread to work out the location of the demon. Which led to wear they were now, trekking towards the point on a map where all the disappearances collated.

Eventually, the group reached the entrance to a cave that was hidden by vines and leaves, it had been by luck that they had managed to spot it.

“Alright, we need to proceed with caution, we don’t yet know what type of demon we’re dealing with.” Shiro told his team.

“Right.” The team responded.

The Exorcists crept into the cave, their weapons or memorised chants at the ready for if a demon attacked, they didn’t need their torches as the cave was surprisingly well lit on its own.

“What is this stuff?” Exorcist one asked, analysing the fleshy vines that decorated the walls of the cave.

“I’ve never seen this before.” Exorcist two of their group commented.

Deeper in they went until the vines became thicker and they found pods stuck to the walls or floor as well, part of the pods had transparent flesh that showed liquid inside.

“I wonder what’s inside these.” Exorcist three approached with caution.

“Careful, it could lash out.” Shiro warned.

“I’ll be careful.” Exorcist three assured, looking inside, his face turning to horror. “Oh no!”

“What is it?” The group turned towards him.

“Bones.” Exorcist three answered grimly. “From what I can tell, it’s a human skeleton, and its small.”

It didn’t need to be spelled out to them exactly what was in the pod.

“So, whatever we’re after consumes the flesh of…the young.” Exorcist two concluded, not willing say ‘children’.

If Yukio remembered correctly, they had a child of their own. Maybe it would have been wiser to send childless Exorcists on this mission.

“Let’s just hope that they were able to pass on.” Exorcist four said.

They continued deeper, coming across more pods with bones collected at the bottom, but as they got deeper in, it wasn’t just bones in the pods any more.

“Oh god!” Exorcist two bent over, struggling not to vomit from the sight that met them.

The rest of the group looked similarly ill, only Shiro showed no reaction but Yukio knew that he was being strong both for all of them and himself, as the sight brought unpleasant ideas into their mind.

“Please, don’t let him be here.” Yukio prayed under his breath.

Inside the pods were corpses, in varying states of decay, some were nothing but bones held together by the tiniest amounts of flesh, limbs already falling off, others had more meat, their flesh floating off their corpses, some even still had their hair. The most intact of the corpses were clearly children, and the same was likely for the less fleshy of the corpses.

“This one still has her face.” Exorcist one cried, looking at one of the corpses.

“We seem to be getting closer.” Shiro said, closing himself off.

“Do you need to go back?” Exorcist four asked the sicker members of their team.

“No, I want to get want did this?” Exorcist two snarled.

They continued further in, the corpses in the pods getting less decayed until they looked almost whole, and they finally emerged into a cavern.

“What is that thing?” Exorcist one asked.

At the centre of the cavern lay what could only be described as a mass of flesh, hundreds of tendrils branched off from it and worked its way over the walls and floors, some of these tendrils connecting to yet more pods.

“Does it know we’re here?” Yukio asked quietly.

“It probably already does.” Shiro said. “We just haven’t presented ourselves as a threat, yet.”

“What about when we have to kill it?” Yukio asked.

“We could try fire, burn it where far away from these tendrils.” Shiro suggested, looking down at the tendrils that snaked along the floor as if it would come to life and attack them.

“These ones are alive!” Came a shout of joy.

The group turned to the exorcist who had shouted, thankfully not disturbing the demon, and ran over to investigate.

In the pods were more children, but these ones were complete, no decay to be seen. Peering in further, they spotted the small rising and falling of the children’s chests. They were alive.

“We need to get them out.” Exorcist two reached for a knife to cut the skin of the pod.

Shiro’s hand snatched theirs before they could touch their weapon, he shook his head at them.

“Right now, we are currently in unknown territory, we don’t know what this demon is or what taking the children will do to it or the children themselves. We could risk the children if we don’t proceed with caution.” Shiro told the group evenly.

The group looked reluctant but didn’t question the Paladin’s orders.

“Good. Natsu, I want you to leave and call in the situation, hopefully they’ll be someone who knows how to deal with this.” Shiro instructed Exorcist two.

“Yes sir.” Natsu replied reluctantly.

“I’ll go with him.” Exorcist four volunteered, not wanting their friend to have to walk through the corpse-lined walls alone.

Shiro nodded and the two Exorcists left, leaving the rest of their group to investigate.

“How many alive so far?” Shiro asked.

“Five, total.” Exorcist one answered. “The rest of them…” They didn’t finish, but they didn’t need to.

“Looked like they passed fairly recently, no apparent injuries.” Exorcist three reported.

Shiro sighed, five children was such a small number compared to how many pods they had passed. He looked over their group and noticed one of them missing.

“Yukio?”

The was no reply.

“Yukio!” Shiro called louder.

“Over here!” Came Yukio’s choked reply.

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked as he made his way over to where Yukio’s voice had come from.

Yukio didn’t reply.

Shiro eventually reached his son, who was standing in front of a pod, his face deathly white and full of shock. The pod itself was separated from all the other pods, both those with the living and those with the dead, the pod also seemed ‘fancier’, for lack of a better work, it was bigger with the tendrils of flesh curled around it like decoration. But it was what, or rather who, was in the pod which caught Shiro’s attention.

“Rin?” Shiro whispered in disbelief.


	4. Found

The boy in the pod looked the exact same as when they had last seen him, not having aged a day and still wearing his school uniform.

“Rin?” Yukio said in disbelief, touching the pod as if he could somehow reach his brother inside. “He’s still breathing.”

Shiro said nothing, only continuing to stare at his child sealed away in the pod.

“He’s been here all this time, ever since he went missing.” He eventually said.

“We have to get him out of there!” Yukio said.

Shiro put a comforting hand on his son’s shoulder.

“We will.” He told him

Despite the now personal stake in the case, Shiro knew that he had to keep a level head and stick to the plan, even though he wanted nothing more than to cut the pod open himself and hold his child again.

“We’ll get you out safely.” Shiro said to his son in the pod, placing a hand on it.

Rin gave no indication to being aware of him, or anything for that matter, continuing to sleep on.

* * *

It was painful waiting for reinforcements to arrive and then planning it out, but Shiro and Yukio weren’t highly trained Exorcists for nothing and waited. Another scan of the demon’s den confirmed that there were only six pods with living children inside, including Rin’s, and analysis of the pods showed that all of the living children were being kept in a coma-like state with the pods providing what their bodies needed to stay alive.

“It’s keeping the kids alive as food storage.” One of the Exorcists who had arrived concluded.

Honestly, none of them knew what exactly the demon was doing, but they did know one thing thanks to the analysis of the pods.

The children wouldn’t be harmed in removing them.

They would probably cough up the liquid that surrounded them and was possibly in their lungs, but they wouldn’t need it once they were removed from the pods.

So, an Exorcist was stationed at each pod with a knife in hand, ready to cut them open and take the children out of the cave to where a medical tent awaited them, and the rest of the Exorcists, including Shiro, were stationed around the fleshy mass, ready to attack, as the demon was most likely going to attack as soon as they touched the pods.

“All right, on the count of three!” Shiro called out, getting nods of confirmation. “One…two…three!”

The Exorcists at the pods brought down their knives…

And all hell broke loose.

* * *

The children cried as the world outside turned chaotic, a storm raged so hard that it broke apart buildings.

“Mami, what’s going on?” Emi begged.

“Nothing to worry about.” Mami smiled, drawing the curtains as if they could somehow block the destruction going on outside.

But Rin could see how strained her smile was.

“We’re all safe in here.” Mami continued.

“But what if we get blown away too?” Jun asked.

“This building is strong, it can withstand.” Mami placated.

“I’m cold.” Daisuke shivered.

“Let’s all huddle around the fire then.” Mami said.

The children all gathered around the fire, which had grown weaker as the storm outside raged on, clutching each other for comfort with Mami at the centre of the cuddle pile.

“Feel the warmth of the fire and know that you are safe.” Mami told them as she hummed her lullaby.

They fell into a state of content as Mami’s voice echoed around the room, happy to believe that all that existed was the inside of the room.

But the storm grew louder, drowning out Mami’s singing, and the fire grew dim, allowing the cold to creep in again.

“It’s not fair.” Rin heard Mami sharply whisper.

“Mami?” Rin asked, turning in her hold to look at her.

Mami turned to smile at him.

“It’s okay my little angel.” She said.

There was a loud crash as the building shook, causing the children to whimper.

“I’m scared.” Rin admitted.

“Shh, it’s alright.” She comforted him. “It’s alright.” She repeated to everyone.

The building shook again, causing Mami to frown.

“I want you all to close your eyes, like we’re going to sleep.” She smiled desperately.

Despite their fear, the children all did as told, clinging tightly to each other.

“Remember, we are a family.” Mami’s voice drifted over them. “We will always find each other, I will always be there to love and protect you. So, sleep, and I will find you again.”

Mami then began to sing her lullaby as the storm raged harder.

The building around them then exploded and they were whisked away into nothingness.

* * *

Shiro looked down at his son, gently cleaning off the goo from the pod Rin had been encased in. Yukio sat opposite him, holding one of Rin’s hands in both of his own as if his brother would disappear without a trace again if he let go.

The fight against the blob-like demon had been easier than expected, it had been a challenge at first, but once the children had been taken away it had fallen easily under salt and holy water. It had been like an over-sized low-level demon.

Now, here they were, tending to the children as the sun was setting, to make sure they were in a stable enough state to move out and take them to a proper hospital, helping the unconscious bodies throw up all of the pod goo that had been inside them and cleaning them off.

“Dad.” Yukio said quietly. “He’s actually here, isn’t he?”

He sounded like the young child who had asked where his brother was all those years ago, rather than the hardened Exorcist he was now.

“Yes, he’s here.” Shiro confirmed.

Granted, the child before him could have easily been a demon who had taken on the form of his son, but Shiro knew that this was the child he had spent eight years raising.

“One of them is waking up!” The heard a shout.

They turned to see one of the other children starting to stir, their arms and legs slowly moving.

Shiro and Yukio were then distracted by a groan coming from beside them, looking down to see Rin also stirring.

“Rin?” They both cried.

Shiro cradled Rin’s head as the young boy shook it and forced his eyes open.

“Whe…where…?” Rin struggled to speak, looking up at the two figures above him though his squinted eyes. “Mami?”

“Rin, do you think you can open your eyes properly for me?” Shiro asked gently.

Rin groaned but tried to open his eyes further.

“Bright.” He complained, his arm moving uselessly beside him to try and cover his eyes.

“Yukio, turn down the lamp.” Shiro instructed his son.

Yukio turned to the gas lamps that were hanging near to make up for the sun being almost gone and turned the gas valve until they were almost out, darkening their area of the tent.

“Is that better, Rin?” Shiro asked.

“Yeah.” Rin mumbled, managing to open his eyes fully with a bit of effort.

Rin struggled to sit up but was too weak to, barely able to use his arms, let alone coordinate them into helping him up. Both Shiro and Yukio helped Rin to sit up slightly when they saw what he was trying to do, supporting his back with their hands.

“Who…who are you?” Rin looked up at Shiro and Yukio questioningly.

Both men felt stabs of ice in their chests.

“Don’t…don’t you recognise who we are?” Yukio asked desperately.

Rin looked at Yukio and Shiro, his face scrunching up in the same when he used to when trying to do his homework.

“You look familiar.” Rin concluded. “But I can’t remember who you are.” He said, clearly frustrated. “I know that your both important, but I can’t remember why. I’m not meant to forget.”

Rin began to cry, tears making their way down his cheeks unobstructed due to his arms being too weak to wipe them away.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright now.” Shiro comforted, pulling Rin to his chest. “It’s alright if you don’t remember, it has been a long time since we last saw you.”

“A long time?” Rin said quietly to himself as he pushed into the comforting warmth. “Like before the city?”

Shiro and Yukio looked at each other, both questioning what the ‘city’ was.

Rin looked up at Shiro, managing to reach his hand up to clumsily touch the man’s glasses.

“Before the city.” Rin repeated, a fresh batch of tears making their way out of his eyes. “Daddy?”

Shiro let out a stuttering sigh of relief at the word.

“Yeah, Rin, it’s daddy.” He said, hugging Rin.

Rin clumsily coordinated his arms to try and wrap around Shiro as he cried.

“You’re here.” Rin sobbed. “You’re finally here.”

“I’m sorry that I took so long to find you.” Shiro apologised to his young son, holding him tightly as if he would disappear again.

It took a while for Rin to calm down, but his sobs eventually petered off, though he clung to Shiro’s sleeve tightly.

“I’m glad I’m out of that city.” Rin mumbled.

“What city?” Yukio asked.

Rin looked up at Yukio and his face scrunched up again before he answered the question.

“It’s where I’ve been. We were all brought to the city and couldn’t escape, and the monsters hunted us.” Rin explained. He then gasped. “Wait, the others!”

Rin attempted to get up but proved too weak flopping back down on his bed.

“Don’t stress yourself Rin.” Shiro told him. “It’s alright, the other children are here too.”

Shiro helped Rin sit up further so the boy could see his friends in their own camper beds, all of them were awake now, some sitting up like Rin and others opting to say laying down.

Rin sighed in relief when he saw them all.

“We all escaped.” He smiled.

“Hi, Rin.” One of the children waved at him, their movements a little more coordinated that Rin was currently capable of.

“Hi.” Rin tried to wave back but could barely shift his hand from Shiro’s sleeve.

Yukio wasn’t shocked by Rin’s inability to move, if his brother really had been in that pod all the years he’d been missing, his muscles would have fallen out of use and atrophied.

“Rin, why don’t you introduce us to your friends?” Shiro coaxed.

“Oh, right.” Rin said. “That’s Jiro.” He managed to lift his arm up enough to wave in the general direction of one of the boys who were sitting up. “Emi…Kiki…Daisuke and June.” He waved in the general direction of each of the children before his arm flopped back down, no longer able to find the strength to lift it.

Rin then frowned. “Wait, where’s Mami?”

Shiro and Yukio looked at each other.

“Who’s Mami?” Shiro asked as he looked back down at his son.

“Mami’s the last member of our group, the one who takes care of us. If we all made it out, she should be here.” Rin was beginning to become panicked as he looked around, hoping to spot said girl on one of the beds or standing guard outside the tent like she would when they moved hiding places back in the city.

The other children, having overheard Rin, also began to panic.

“Where’s Mami?”

“Why isn’t she here?”

“I want Mami.”

They began to cry.

“Calm down now.” Yukio tried to calm his brother. “Maybe it’s just that we haven’t found her yet. We’ll send in a team to have a look.”

It seemed to work as Rin began to calm himself at the prospect of the professional-looking men searching for Mami.

“But they were the only kids alive in the pods, there’s no one left alive in that cave.” One of the Exorcists said aloud before he could stop to realise what he was saying and who he was saying it in front of.

Predictably, this only served to distress the children even more, causing them to sob wildly and beg for Mami to come and comfort them.

“Idiot! Think next time before you speak!” The Exorcist was chastised by another who hit him over the head for good measure.

“It’s okay.” Yukio tried to placate again. “There might be another room in the cave that we didn’t find, and your friend could be in there.”

It wasn’t working this time as Rin and the children continued to cry.

The crying came to a suddenly stop when one of the children called out.

“Mami!” They cried, smiling widely as they looked out of the tent.

Everyone turned to where the child was face, spotting a young lady walking down a hill towards the tent.

“Mami!” The children stopped crying at the sight of the girl.

“There was another girl in there.” One of the Exorcists gasped. “How could we miss her? Quick, grab a blanket for her.”

Shiro frowned as he analysed the girl heading towards them, dressed in an indistinctive school uniform and her eyes obscured by her hair, walking calmly towards them with no issue.

“Stay where you are!” Shiro ordered before anyone to leave to help the girl towards the tent.

“Fujimoto-sama?” The exorcists questioned, turning towards him.

“Dad?” Yukio asked.

“How is she able to walk when the other children are struggling to move?” Shiro asked rhetorically. “And how come we didn’t find her with the other children? Something isn’t right here.”

All but the children quickly went on guard at Shiro’s analysis, realising that the danger wasn’t over like they had thought.

Mami drew closer to the camp, the Exorcists hesitant to attack until they knew for sure that she was a danger. As she got closer, they began to hear her saying something, repeating words over and over.

“My children. Give me back my children.” They were eventually able to make out her saying once she came close enough.

“Miss, can you please stop where you are.” One of the Exorcists spoke up. “We’ll get you help, but we need to make sure you’re safe first.”

Mami didn’t stop walking.

“You ruined it. You took my children from me.” She said.

“Mami, hurry up!” Rin called, unaware of the mounting tension.

The other children chimed in with their own calls, all impatient to be with Mami again.

“Rin, you need to be quiet right now.” Shiro informed his son gently.

“Why?” Rin asked. “I want Mami.”

“They need me.” Mami said. “And you took them from me. How dare you take them from me!”

As Mami drew ever closer, the adults took notice of her limbs becoming longer, her skin cracking as she began to outgrow her clothes.

“She’s a demon.” Shiro gritted his teeth. “Yukio, take Rin and run.” He instructed his older son.

“Wait, you’re Yukio?” Rin stated up at his brother, having only just realised who the other male attending to him was. “But you’re so much older.”

“Not now, Rin.” Yukio said, picking up his brother.

“Take the children and get to safety, the rest of us will handle the demon!” Shiro instructed the Exorcists attending to the other children.

An Exorcist picked up a child each while the remaining ones formed a line between Mami and the children with Shiro.

“No! What are you doing?” Kiki asked.

“Why are you taking us away from Mami?” Daisuke cried.

“Mami!” The children called out for the demon.

“Let me go!” Rin demanded, trying to struggle out of Yukio’s arms but not doing a very good job.

“I can’t do that Rin, she’s dangerous.” Yukio told his brother.

“She’s not dangerous.” Rin protested. “She protected us back in the city.”

“She’s a demon, Rin.” Yukio stated. “Look!”

Yukio lifted Rin so that he brother could look over his shoulder as he and the other child carriers ran away, giving the young boy full view of what was happening.

“No, my children!” Mami cried out as if she was in pain. “I won’t let you take them!”

Mami bent forward violently as four giant, spider-like legs burst from her back, lifting her body off from the ground, her face detaching slightly from her head like a cracked porcelain mask, hair becoming tangled like barbed wire.

“Mami?” Rin whispered as he looked at the person who had taken care of him for half his life.

“What is that thing?” One of the exorcists exclaimed.

None of them recognised the type of demon facing them.

* * *

Rin and Yukio did not get to see the fight between the Mami-demon and the Exorcists as the had quickly disappeared into the trees, everyone piling into a van once they exited the forest and driving towards the nearest hospital.

“I don’t understand.” Rin said in shock as he lay in his brother’s arms. “Why did Mami become like that?”

“That’s because she is a demon, Rin.” Yukio repeated.

“A demon?” June piped up.

“We’ll explain it to you all later.” Yukio managed to postpone. “After we’ve made sure you’re safe and cared for.”

“Is dad going to hurt Mami?” Rin asked.

Yukio didn’t say anything, he didn’t know what to say.

Rin frowned at the lack on answer.

They arrived at the hospital and the children were quickly taken inside, given showers to remove the rest of the pod goo that still stuck to them, and then put in beds while nurses and doctors preformed tests. Thankfully, apart from their weakened muscles from disuse, the children were healthy with no other apparent issues.

Yukio was sitting at Rin’s bedside when Shiro arrived. Most of the children, including Rin, were asleep at this point, so Yukio joined his father outside of the room.

“How is Rin and the others?” Was the first thing Shiro asked.

“They’re fine.” Yukio answered, much to Shiro’s relief. “They’ll need a while to get used to moving again, especially Rin, but the doctor said it shouldn’t be anything permanent with enough physical therapy.”

“That’s good.” Shiro sighed.

“The demon?” Yukio asked.

“Unfortunately, it got away.” Shiro frowned. “It was much stronger than what we’ve usually faced, and nothing seemed to be especially effective on it. Then it suddenly got weaker, I think because you got the children far away enough, meaning its strength is tied to them. When it realised it was losing, it managed to disappear off a cliff.”

“So, it’s still out there and it could come back for Rin and the others?” Yukio said.

“I’ve no doubt it will.” Shiro said.

Yukio tightened his fists at the thought of the demon taking his brother again.

“Have you made your report yet?” He asked.

“Not yet, but I’ll have to. It’s going to lead to a lot of questions though, we have no idea what type of demon we’re dealing with and I don’t want the children questioned until they’re more emotionally stable.” Shiro replied.

“Do you think someone else could file it? I think Rin would prefer it if we were both there when he wakes up again.” Yukio tried.

“Unfortunately, I’m the leader of the mission and the Paladin at that, they’ll be expecting the report from me. I’ll try to get it done and sent before Rin wakes up.” Shiro told his older son.

“Okay.” Yukio said. “I’m staying with Rin.”

“I know you are.” Shiro smiled. “I’ll phone home to ask someone to bring you a spare change of clothes. And try to get some sleep yourself.” He added.

“Thanks, dad.” Yukio said.

They both went back inside the room where Yukio retook his post beside Rin while Shiro gave the young boy a kiss on the forehead before leaving to get his report done as soon as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment  
> I hope I managed to handle the twist reveal with Mami alright, I tried to add enough hints in the last few chapters but that weren’t obvious, though I know at least one person picked up on what was up with Mami.


	5. A Mami's love

Shiro’s fingers itched to hold a cigarette as he sat in Mephisto’s office, despite his last cigarette being over fifteen years ago.

“This really is quite the unusual case.” Mephisto said as he stirred his teacup, the set floating in the air next to him. “Children being taken by a demon to feed on them, said demon turning out to have been behind little Rin’s disappearance. And little Rin having not aged a day since his disappearance.”

“From what the children have told us, they were trapped in a collective dreamworld that took the form of a ruined city full of monsters, one of the demons who took them taking the form of an older girl named Mami, who ‘protected’ them in this city, and they were kept alive in the real world by those pods they were found in. The children would eventually be ‘taken’ by the monsters in the dream world and killed and devoured in their pods in reality.” Shiro explained.

“Rather strange.” Mephisto hummed. “Two entirely different and unknown demons working together, the children being kept in a dreamworld rather than being immediately devoured or kept in a coma state until they were, and there’s the matter of little Rin surviving being trapped by those demons for seven years.”

It was clear that Mephisto already had a solid theory as to why Rin was still alive, the boy being the son of Satan.

“How is little Rin, by the way.” Mephisto asked. “I’ve already heard about the other children that were found being reunited with their families and sent home.”

“Rin is staying in the hospital for slightly longer than the other children. Since he’s been trapped in that dream world for so long, it’s taking him a while to regain his motor skills enough to be brought home.” Shiro reported.

“And I expect that you’ve already had Rin’s hospital room warded since you can’t take him back to the protection of your monastery?”

“As the demon who abducted the children is still on the loose, Rin’s room was already being warded before I needed to ask. As are the homes of all the other children.”

“It is undoubtable that this demon will return for the children. But there’s only so much you’re going to be able to do to even protect the children, let alone fight it, without knowing exactly what kind of demon it is.”

“We already have a few people going through the archives to see if they can find any lesser-known demons that match what this ‘Mami’ was.”

Mephisto suddenly laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Shiro frowned at him.

“I just got her name.” Mephisto grinned. “How better to instil being a mother in the eyes of the children than calling herself their ‘Mami’?”

Shiro understood what he meant but didn’t laugh.

Mephisto them hummed.

“I know a young Exorcist who specialises in demons who target children.” He said. “Given her knowledge, she might be able to identify our demon for us.”

“Considering our current situation, I’d be willing to work with whoever you brought in if it means bringing an end to that demon.” Shiro said.

“Gut.” Mephisto said in German. “I’ll contact her and see when she can fly over.”

* * *

“So, you’re training to become a doctor right now?” Rin asked Yukio.

Rin was sitting up in his hospital bed while Yukio sat beside him, the younger boy absentmindedly scribbling on some paper to help build up his motor skills again as per his doctor’s orders.

“That’s right, I managed to get a scholarship into a really high-profile school too.” Yukio told him.

“That’s great!” Rin smiled. “You always said you were going to be a doctor.”

Yukio smiled at his, technically, younger brother, relieved that Rin did remember him despite their seven years apart, though the smaller boy had taken some time to fully recognise Yukio as the boy he used to protect from bullies.

“Mami always said that once we got out of the city, she could see me becoming a police officer or a fireman, because I’m so strong and protect the others when she’s gone.” Rin said.

Yukio frowned sadly. “Rin…”

“Oh, right.” Rin said, remembering.

He looked down and played with his fingers. “I still can’t really accept it. I saw her become something else, but Mami was still the one to protect us, she loved us. I just can’t believe that she’s the reason we were in that city to begin with.”

Yukio reached over and pulled Rin into his arms, stroking the younger boy’s back as he began to cry.

It had broken Yukio’s heart to tell Rin that Mami had been the one to trap and kill them, but they couldn’t afford to not tell the children the truth, lest Mami come for them again and they go with her because they don’t know any better. He also knew that it was the worst for Rin out of all of the children, since the others had been captive for around a year at the most while Rin had spent seven years with Mami, nearly as long as he’d been with Yukio and their dad.

“I want Mami.” Rin quietly sobbed into Yukio’s chest.

Yukio felt as if those words were a knife going through him.

“I know, it’s alright.” He forced himself to say.

Rin’s sobs eventually petered off. Looking down, Yukio realised that Rin had fallen asleep, his emotional stress no doubt draining him in his current state.

“Don’t worry, Rin.” Yukio said as he gently tucked his brother back into the hospital bed. “I’ll fix this. Everything will be alright soon.” He promised.

“We’ll fix this.” A voice corrected him.

Yukio turned to see Shiro enter the room.

“We already doing everything we can to find and kill that demon, you don’t need to worry about it.” Shiro said as he walked over to his older son.

“But-” Yukio began to protest, standing up to meet his dad.

“You already have enough to worry about.” Shiro silenced him. “You’ve got your studies, students of your own to teach, and you have to be there for Rin.”

Yukio frowned, clenching his fists.

Shiro placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I know you want to be part of this, and you would make a great part of the team. But don’t forget that you’re still a child yourself, and with having to deal with so much already, being part of this case may be too much.” Shiro told him.

“I…understand.” Yukio breathed. “I don’t like it, but I know you’re right.”

“There’s my responsible boy.” Shiro smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you in the loop despite this, you’ll know everything we’ll know.”

Yukio managed a smile. “Thanks, dad.” He said.

Shiro nodded.

“You’ll want to spend as much time with Rin as possible, anyway.” He said, walking around Rin’s bed to sit on the boy’s other side while Yukio sat back down. “He’ll be allowed back home in a couple of days, but you’ll be leaving in a week.”

Yukio looked down as his sleeping brother.

“It feels wrong to still leave, I feel like I’d be abandoning Rin again.” He admitted quietly.

“You won’t be.” Shiro promised. “You can phone home at any time and talk to Rin for as long as you want.”

Yukio nodded. “And I’ll try to come back as often as possible.” He added.

“Good.” Shiro nodded.

They both turned back to Rin as they heard him groaning, the boy slowly waking up.

“Hey there, how are you feeling.” Shiro asked his younger son.

“Tired.” Rin mumbled.

“I’ll bet you are.” Shiro laughed softly.

Rin weakly dug his hands out from under the covers and held them towards Shiro.

Getting the message, Shiro picked his child up and sat him on his lap, wrapping Rin back up in his blanket and allowing him to lean against his chest.

“Is that better.” Shiro asked.

Rin nodded shyly.

“Will the monsters get in?” Rin asked quietly.

“No, they won’t get in.” Shiro promised. “We’ll look after you.”

It was a question Shiro and Yukio were already used to answering, as Rin still feared the monsters of Mami’s dreamworld.

“Okay.” Rin said as he once again succumbed to sleep.

It was honestly a relief that Rin as sleeping, the first couple of days he had been unable to sleep comfortably, insisting that he needed ‘Mami’s song’. Thankfully, that need had past, but he still required physical contact, an assurance that he was protected, to sleep.

Yukio frowned as he looked at Rin, uncomfortable with how much his memories of his brother didn’t match up with the current version.

‘That demon will pay.” He silently vowed.

* * *

“I want Mami!”

“Daisuke, you can’t see her anymore. Remember what you were told, she’s dangerous, the one who took you from us.”

“I don’t care, Mami loves me! I need to be with Mami!” Daisuke continued to cry.

Daisuke’s parents were at their wits-end. Ever since being returned to them, Daisuke had spoke about nothing else other than his desire to be reunited with the very demon that had kidnapped him, and no amount of reasoning could make him stop.

The only thing keeping Daisuke’s mother from breaking down completely was the knowledge that her son was under a spell. The exorcist explaining that demon who took him most likely had a strong hold over him from his time with her, as all the children had loved Mami unconditionally in the dreamworld she had cooked up.

It still didn’t make it hurt any less for their son to cry out the name of his kidnapper and would-be murderer though.

“I can’t deal with this.” Daisuke’s father said, leaving the room.

Daisuke didn’t say anything, just crossing his arms and looking out the window with bag-heavy eyes.

Daisuke’s mother picked her son up and placed him in his bed.

“Try to get some sleep.” She said gently.

Daisuke remained silent.

His mother sighed left his room, stopping to switch on the nightlight she’d dug out of some old boxes for him before switching off the main light and closing his door slightly.

Daisuke didn’t bother closing his eyes, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep without Mami there to make sure none of the monsters got in or singer her lullaby.

 _“Daisuke…_ ” It took a few seconds for him to register the voice, his brain refusing to function properly from the lack of sleep.

Slowly, Daisuke sat up in his bed, looking around.

_“Daisuke…”_

“Mami?” He asked, looking around for the girl.

_“Come to the window, Daisuke…”_

Daisuke pushed himself out of bed and slowly made his way over to his window, his muscles not allowing him to move very fast. He eventually made it to his window and looked out, searching for Mami.

_“Down here…”_

Daisuke searched through the dark outside, ignoring the exorcist that was patrolling, until he saw something in between the trees.

“Mami.” Daisuke smiled excitedly when he recognised who it was.

 _“It’s time to come home, Daisuke…”_ Mami’s voice was as clear as if she were right next to him, despite not moving her lips. _“You know you’re not meant to be out alone without me or the others…”_

“I’m sorry.” Daisuke apologised. “But I’m with my parents now.”

 _“It’s too dangerous to stay with them Daisuke…”_ Mami told him. _“We escaped the city, but so did the creatures…They’re out there, waiting to find us again…”_

“No.” Daisuke gasped, terrified, looking around as if they’d suddenly pop up.

_“Yes…And I’m the only one who can protect you, the only one who loves you enough to keep them away…”_

That was right, Mami always protected them from the creatures back in the city. While she was there, in the hideout with the fire burning brightly, the creatures couldn’t even come near.

_“You need to come with me Daisuke, come outside and I can take you away to safety…”_

“I don’t know if I can.” Daisuke doubted. “I’m really tired and I can move that well.”

_“I can’t enter the house, poppet…The adults, they don’t understand, they’d just hurt me…You don’t want them to hurt me, do you…?”_

_Daisuke vehemently shook his head, no, he definitely didn’t want Mami to be hurt._

_“Then you need to come outside on your own, I believe in you, poppet…”_

Daisuke nodded shakily and turned away from the window, walking slowly towards his bedroom door, which was still ajar.

The door creaked slightly as he opened it wider, causing Daisuke to wince, but after a few seconds his parents showed no sign of coming to investigate. He crept across the landing to the stairs, stepping as carefully as he could to avoid the floorboard giving him away. He took each step at a time until he reached the bottom, leaving him with the challenge of the front door.

He could hear his parents in the next room, they would certainly hear him if he opened the door, the latch was too loud. But the back door had a doggy door that he could use instead.

Peaking into the room his parents were in, he found that they were thankfully facing away from the doorway, allowing him to sneak past without being seen. The kitchen was tiled, meaning that he didn’t have to worry about creaky floorboards as he made his way to the backdoor, unlatching the doggy door and pushing it open.

Once he sure that the exorcist on watch wasn’t there, he began to climb through the doggy door. It was a tight squeeze as their dog was smaller than him, but he managed to push his upper body through, wiggling his legs after him, but just as he pulled his feet though, they knocked into something.

Daisuke tensed as he heard the broom clatter to the floor inside.

“Daisuke?” His mother’s voice came.

 _“Run to me…”_ Mami appeared in the treeline before him.

Daisuke quickly climbed to his feet and ran towards Mami, his atrophied muscles suddenly no longer an issue in her presence.

“Hey, kid, stop!” The exorcise appeared around the corner of the house.

Daisuke kept running, straight into the tender embrace of Mami.

“Let him go, demon!” The exorcist ordered, running over with a gun.

“You won’t take him away from me again!” Mami shrieked.

Long legs burst from her back as her skin cracked, shifting into her demon form.

This didn’t bother Daisuke one bit, he still saw the same Mami who took care of him back in the city.

The exorcist shot at Mami but her true form made her much quicker as she ran away with Daisuke still in her arms.

The exorcist tried to give chase, but Mami proved too quick and disappeared along with the child.

“This is not good.” The exorcist said to himself.

He reluctantly headed back to the family to tell them that their son had been taken from them again.


	6. Home and away

The team of Exorcists who were assigned to the Mami demon case were in chaos, one of the children had been taken again, from right under their noses.

“Everyone, calm down!” Shiro ordered as he entered the room. “Now, it seems that Mami is working faster than expected and can reach the children despite the wards placed around their homes.”

“She seems to be able to influence the children from outside the wards but can’t enter herself, the Exorcist on duty reported that the child escaped the house and ran to her on his own.” One of the team said.

“Mami’s influence on the children is stronger than we thought.” Shiro hummed. “The best way to stop a demon’s influence is to kill the demon. Until then, we need to move the children to safe-houses, they’re too vulnerable in their own homes.”

“We’re already in the process of finding safe-houses and trying to convince the families to move, a few are being stubborn.” He was told. “What about your own son, sir.”

Everyone paused at the reminder that the Paladin’s son was among those who had been taken by Mami.

“He is being moved to the monastery tonight, its stronger wards and my fellow priests will keep him safe from the demon.” Shiro answered.

No one objected, the Paladin’s home was meant to be one of the most well warded places around. No matter her strength, Mami would struggle to reach Rin.

“Now that we’ve dealt with the placement of the children, we need to find and deal with Mami, and hopefully recover the child she’s taken.” Shiro said. “Do we have any leads on her and what she is?”

“We’ve found a few demons that are similar to Mami but aren’t exact matches. We won’t know if any of the exorcism methods used for those demons will work until we can use them on Mami.” One of the team reported.

“We’d need to find the demon first to do that, and it’s more likely to stay hidden than reveal itself.” Another of the team said.

“Unless it’s to go after a child.” A third member piped up.

“The demon will no doubt set up another lair for itself.” Shiro said. “And if it has a permanent residence, we can find it.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Shiro only hopped that they could find and kill Mami before she decided to come for his son next.

* * *

“Welcome home!”

Yukio pushed Rin on a wheelchair into the monastery, where a small party was waiting for him.

“You’re throwing a party for me?” Rin questioned excitedly.

“Of course.” Izumi said. “We finally have you home. Why wouldn’t we celebrate that?”

“We even got you presents.” Nagamato said, holding up one of the wrapped parcels meant for Rin.

“That’s a lot of presents.” Rin’s eyes bugged out at the size of the pile.

“Well, we have seven missed birthdays to make up for.” Koyodo said.

“So, why don’t you come open them. Then we can have cake.” Maruta said.

Rin smiled widely, wishing that he had the strength to run over to the four priests and hug them.

Yukio pushed Rin over to the group and they all sat down, handing Rin his presents to open and helping him when he struggled.

“Where’s dad?” Rin asked, taking notice of an important person’s absence as he opened one of the presents.

“He’s going to be a little late with work, something came up.” Yukio answered.

“Oh.” Rin said, putting the present down. “Then I’m not opening anymore ‘til he gets back.”

Yukio smiled. “Okay, Rin.”

“I’m guessing that means no cake either.” Izumi teased, picking up the cake.

Rin’s eyes widened in shock.

“No, I want cake now!” He demanded, holding out his arms weakly.

It had been so long since he had cake that he was not putting off eating it because his dad wasn’t there.

“Okay, okay.” Izumi laughed, putting the cake back down.

The cake was sliced and shared out between everyone, Rin quickly devouring his slice and getting a second, and then another.

“I don’t feel so good.” Rin moaned as he ate his third slice.

“I’m not surprised, eating so much sugar at once.” Yukio said. “I think you need to stop eating and lie down.”

“No, my cake.” Rin protested, stubbornly taking another bite of cake.

That only resulted in Rin looking queasier as he struggled to eat the rest of his slice. He managed to eat it, but didn’t look too triumphant for managing it, holding his stomach and groaning.

“Told you.” Yukio sighed.

Rin stuck his tongue out at him in response before groaning again.

“It’s time for a lie down, little man.” Izumi suggested.

“But I’m not tired.” Rin denied.

“It will still help you feel better.” The young boy was told.

So, reluctantly, Rin lay down for a rest and closed his eyes while the priests wrapped up the rest of the cake and cleaned up the presents that had already been opened.

And despite saying that he hadn’t been tired, Rin soon fell asleep.

Not that long after, Shiro arrived back home.

“Asleep again?” Shiro quested when he saw his youngest son.

“Yeah, the doctor said he’ll run out of energy easily due to his condition, but that he’ll get better. He’s already able to stay awake long than a few days ago.” Yukio answered.

“At least we can see that he’s getting better.” Shiro sighed. “I’m guessing that I missed the presents?”

“Actually, Rin only opened a few before we told him that you were going to be late, he insisted that you had to be there before he opened the rest.” Yukio pointed to the unopened presents.

Shiro smiled down at Rin, sitting next to him and stroking his head.

“I’m glad he did lose his kindness and caring to that demon.” Shiro said.

Shiro stood again and then picked Rin up, cradling his child gently in his arms.

While the other priests went about their duties, Shiro and Yukio walked to the boys’ room, where everything had already been prepared for Rin.

Yukio pulled the sheets back on Rin’s bed, allowing Shiro to place him down and tuck him in.

Yukio then went and sat down on his bed, Shiro joining him, the two of them just sitting and watching Rin sleep for a while.

“He’s home.” Shiro said reassuringly, putting a hand on Yukio’s shoulder.

“Yeah.” Yukio agreed. “He’s home.”

After watching Rin for a little while longer, Shiro and Yukio left to let him sleep, though they would check on him periodically to ensure that he was still there.

Yukio sat at the table, working on a small project, constantly referring to a book next to it.

“You’ve been working on that non-stop.” Shiro commented as he prepared himself dinner.

“I want to make sure I get it finished before I have to leave.” Yukio said.

“I’m sure you’ll finish it in plenty time, so don’t forget about your own health.” Shiro told him.

“I know.” Yukio said. “I just want to make sure Rin stays safe once I’m away.”

“Nagamoto and the others will look after him when you and I aren’t here.” Shiro said. “He’s safe here.”

“Still, I’d like some constant reassurance that I can always find him again.” Yukio said.

“Look at you, being the protective big brother.” Shiro joked. “The two of you seem to have switched roles.”

“Well, I am the literal big brother now. That’s still something I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around.” Yukio said.

“We’re still trying to find out why Rin hasn’t aged, just another part of the mystery.” Shiro said, sitting down with his food.

But before he could take a bite, the phone rang. Moaning, Shiro got up to answer.

“Hello…ah…I understand. I’ll be there shortly.” Shiro said, responding to who was on the other end.

He hung up and then went to grab his coat.

“You’re leaving already?” Yukio questioned.

“Another of the children has been taken while they were being moved to the safe house.” Shiro explained. “We have to investigate while the trail’s still fresh.”

“Rin’s not going to be happy.” Yukio lamented.

“I know.” Shiro sighed. “But I couldn’t bare it if I wasn’t giving it my all to catch this demon. Once this is all over, I’ll take time off to spend with Rin.”

“I’ll tell Rin so that he understands.” Yukio said.

“Thank you.” Shiro said. “Look after your brother.”

He then left.

* * *

Shiro entered headquarters with a grim determination. Not only had Mami taken his child from him seven years ago, she was now taking away from his ability to be with his son now that he was home. When she was finally reduced to ashes, Shiro knew he would feel immense satisfaction and relief, and he wanted to feel that as soon as possible.

“What do we have?” He asked his team.

“As I said on the phone. The Saito family had just finished packing up their things and were on the way to the designated safehouse with three exorcists watching over them, when there was a car crash ahead of them that blocked up the road, no doubt set up by the demon. The family stepped out of their car while they waited to be able to move again and the daughter, Kiki managed to wander off a fair distance before they noticed. They tried to get her to come back, but Kiki shouted that she saw one of her friends and continued running away, which is when she was snatched up by the demon. The Exorcists managed to get a few hits on the demon, but with Kiki there they couldn’t risk doing much, they say their attacks hardly did anything, so the demon managed to get away.” It was explained to Shiro.

“It’s already getting bolder.” Shiro said. “Attacking in broad daylight like that.”

“We’ve already sent extra protection to the other families being moved and told them to keep hold of the children at all times, if it tries that again.” One of the team said.

“Good.” Shiro said. “Miss Saito said she saw one of her friends. If it was Mami saw, she would have called the demon by name given how the children treat it, so it’s likely that she saw Mr. Muto.”

“Meaning that the children are still alive.” One of the team said hopefully.

“Or she’s impersonating them.” Said another of the less hopeful team members.

“They are likely to still be alive, this demon doesn’t kill its victims quickly.” Shiro said. “But it means that Mami is going to use the children she’s taken to lure the other children to her.”

“It’s already hard enough convincing the children to not trust the demon.” One of the team said. “How are we going to convince them that they can’t trust each other too. As far as they’re concerned, they survived hell together, that sort of situation ensures a strong bond.”

Shiro frowned but had to agree.

As much as he loved his son, and as much as Rin understood what had happened and that he couldn’t trust Mami, Shiro couldn’t trust him to be able to resist when Mami came for him.

“I also think its strength is linked to the children.” One of the team voiced their opinion. “You said that it was impossible to beat in your first encounter until the children were taken away, and then it had to run away. And when taking Mr. Muto it had to wait for him to come to it, but it got more daring when taking Miss Saito, as if it was in less danger when taking her despite their being more Exorcists on scene.”

“Meaning, the more children it takes, the harder it’s going to be to beat it when we do manage to find it.” Another of the team said.

“This would be easier if we knew exactly what type of demon it is and what its abilities are.” Said another of the team.

“Well, I believe I have the solution to that.” Mephisto appeared in the door way in his usual manner.

None of the team looked happy to see him, none of them particularly trusted him.

“Is your friend who’s meant to help us on this case here?” Shiro guessed.

“Yes, she is.” Mephisto grinned, stepping to the side to showcase the new arrival.

A young woman stepped through the door.

“Jones.” She introduced herself. “Jones Coraline.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment  
> Yes, Coraline from the movie of the same name is part of this story, I’ll try to write it so that knowledge of the book or movie isn’t needed to know what’s going on, though you should definitely go watch the movie or read the book.  
> I didn’t originally intend for her to be in this story, but as I was writing out Mami, I realised that she was very similar to the Other Mother. So, I decided to make the Beldam into a type of demon and make Mami a Beldam. But I needed a way to explain what a Beldam was in story, thus the introduction of Coraline.
> 
> Also, I haven’t given any names to the Mami hunting team because it would mean giving you guys more names to memorise, on top of the names of the children, and I know most of you aren’t going to be interested about the team itself. But if you’d like for there to be a defined number of Exorcists on the team and for them all to be named so that I’m not constantly going ‘a member of the team’, tell me and I’ll go back and give them names.


	7. The Beldams

For an associate of Mephisto’s, Shiro had been expecting someone a little more…unorthodox. But the most seemingly ‘unorthodox’ thing about the woman in front of him was her dark -blue hair. And maybe that she was accompanied by a cat.

She wore an Exorcist uniform, though it was different to their own, Shiro recognised it as the English uniform for Exorcists. And a metal summoning circle as a necklace around her neck, marking her as a Tamer.

“So, I hear you’ve been having problems with an unknown demon.” The woman said, Japanese was clearly not her first language, though they didn’t have an issue understanding her.

“‘Problem’ is an understatement.” One of the team said.

“It’s moving fast, two of the recovered children have already been taken.” Another said.

“I’m not surprised. This demon is nothing without her children.” Coraline said.

There was a pause.

“You know what this demon is?” Shiro questioned.

“Given what I’ve been told about her, I believe I do.” Coraline answered, walking over to the desk and opening her bag.

“What? What?” The team asked impatiently.

Coraline took a hand-bound book out of her bag and placed it on the table.

Her cat jumped up onto the table beside it as Coraline opened the cover to the first page, not needing to go any further than that.

There on the first page was the rough sketch of a skeletal woman with extra needle-like legs and hands, and buttons for eyes. The sketch did look similar to Mami’s demon-form, thought there were definite differences.

A name was printed at the top of the page in large lettering.

“A Beldam.” Coraline said.

“My,” Mephisto said as he looked down at the drawing, ignoring the cat’s hissing at him. “I haven’t seen one of those in quite some time. Such a rarity.”

“What’s a Beldam?” One of the team questioned.

“Yeah, I’ve never heard of one before.” Another joined in.

All of them were confused.

“I would be surprised if you had.” Coraline said. “They’re a very ancient and secretive type of demon, able to conceal their presence from even the most expert of demon hunters. It took me years to scrounge up all my information from old folktales and where Beldams have set up their lairs, and that was only because experience allowed me to know where to look.”

“So, what is a Beldam exactly, then?” Shiro asked, picking up Coraline’s book to leaf through it.

The entire book was in English and distinct handwriting, making it hard for Shiro to read, but he knew enough English to make some of it out. It went into detail about blocked off doors, keys, dolls and buttons on the first few pages before including information and sketched that were obviously added later on given the difference in ink and handwriting.

“They’re a type of demon that feasts on the emotions of children.” Coraline answered. “Each Beldam is different in what they do, but the common thread is that they lure children away from their families and feast on their emotions and life force until their all dried up, and then discard that child once done with them. They usually feed on a child’s love for them, creating a situation to foster that love, it can take the form of a child’s paradise, or as with your Beldam, a situation where the children had to rely on her to be safe.”

“What’s this stuff about sewing buttons into eyes, the demon didn’t do this to the children?” Shiro asked, reading through some of the text in the book.

“Like I said, each Beldam is different.” Coraline said. “The first Beldam I encountered lived in a pocket dimension where she took the form of my ‘other mother’, presenting me with a world made to please me, and then told me that in order to stay I had to allow her to sew buttons into my eyes, which would have allowed her to feast on my lifeforce until I was nothing but another ghost added to her collection.”

Everyone but Mephisto winced and covered one of their eyes.

“It was only after I started researching Beldams that I learned no two are the same.” Coraline continued. “Some employ pocket dimensions to take their victims too like the Other Mother, others trap their victims in a dream world like your Beldam. Some require the child to enter a contract of sorts to feed on them, others are able to feed on the children as soon as they grab them. I’ve had to add to my book many times over the years each time I find a new Beldam.”

“You’ve fought them before.” Shiro said, putting the book back down for another member of the team to look at. “How to we defeat a Beldam?”

“Mainly starvation.” Coraline informed. “If a Beldam can’t feed on a child’s life force, they’ll eventually fade away. That involves locking the Beldam away, great for the ones that employ pocket dimensions as those doorways can be sealed with them on the other side, not so good for the ones that have free reign.”

“The demon already has two children, and even if doesn’t take the rest of the children, it could always take new ones. I don’t think it’s going to starve.” One of the team pointed out.

“I think she has to form a trust and bond with children before she can feed on them.” Coraline theorised, picking up her book and skimming through it. “That’s why she created the illusion of the abandoned city I was told about, to quicken that bond by being the children’s ‘protector’. And since it’s going to be much harder for her to do that again without her companion, she’s stuck retrieving the rescued children if she doesn’t want to starve.”

“Do you know who that other demon we fought was, we couldn’t find any information on it either?” One of the team asked.

“Not a clue.” Coraline answered honestly. “Though it is common for a Beldam to form a symbiotic relationship with another demon to aid in their child snatching, both benefiting from it and becoming stronger. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say it was a low-level demon mutated through the Beldam feeding it.”

“Could she find another demon to partner up with and set up her dream world again?” Shiro asked.

“She could.” Coraline nodded. “It all depends on the Beldam’s abilities. I may be the expert on them, but there are still things I don’t know.”

“Are there any other ways to fight a Beldam?” Shiro asked.

“I’ve found that a lot of animals are the enemies of a Beldam.” Coraline flicked to a page in her book showcasing sketches of animals. “They’re able to sense when a Beldam is near and that she’s bad news, they’re also good for protecting children against a Beldam’s influence. So, Tamers with animal-based demons should prove effective.”

Coraline’s cat pawed at the page where a sketch of itself was.

“Cats specifically are effective.” Coraline added, smiling down at her cat.

That gave Shiro an idea, though he’d have to wait before he could act on it.

“So, do you have anything in here about tracking down the demon? Because that’s our biggest issue right here.” One of the team brought up, looking at the book.

“All Beldams have a lair, and it’ll be somewhere remote enough to not draw attention to her but close to civilisation, so she can access children.” Coraline said. “For this particular Beldam, her lair will be set up not far from the city so that she can access the children she took, since she still has to travel to the houses and then back to her lair. Though, she’ll definitely move lairs once she’s got all the children back rather than stick around and risk getting caught again.”

Coraline turned her book to another page displaying sketches of old houses.

“They usually set up their lairs in old houses or caves, the house doesn’t necessarily have to be abandoned for there to be a lair there, but I doubt our Beldam would be able to sneak herself and the children into an occupied house. So, we should be searching caves, abandoned houses, and old houses where the owners have just died, or the owners aren’t known for being seen, if our Beldam doesn’t mind killing the normal way.” She continued.

“Are there any other ways?” Coraline was asked.

“The rest of my information is about how to work out whether a Beldam has set up residence somewhere, not about tracking newly built lairs. So, unless we’re willing to use the children as bait to lure her out or track her back to her lair, this is what we can do so far.”

“Using the children as bait is out of the question.” Shiro shut the suggestion down before anyone could vouch for it, not that anyone was really willing to.

“I’ll get to work finding all the caves and old houses in the city and surrounding area then.” One of the team said.

“I’ll contact some more Tamers to join the team.” Another member said.

“Thank you for your help.” Shiro said to Coraline.

“You can thank me when this is all over.” Coraline waved off.

“I look forward to being able to thank you, then.” Shiro responded.

* * *

With the case well and truly underway, it took a while before Shiro was able to take a break, taking the opportunity to quickly visit home, but not before quickly stopping off at True Cross Academy to pick something important.

It was way past midnight when he got home, so everyone was fast asleep.

Quietly, Shiro made his way up to his sons’ room, pushing the door open to peer inside.

Yukio was sound asleep in his bed, probably having finally passed out from working too hard if Shiro had to hazard a guess.

Rin’s bed, however, was empty.

Just as Shiro was getting ready to panic, he heard the sound of someone moving about in the kitchen.

Moving towards the kitchen, he was able to smell food being cooked. And going inside, he found Rin walking around with ingredients and a pot on the stove.

“Rin, you know you’re not meant to use the hob without supervision, especially in your state.” Shiro smiled.

Rin jumped slightly before turning around to look at Shiro guiltily.

“Sorry.” Rin mumbled. “I was hungry.”

“If you were hungry, you should have asked one of the others to cook for you.” Shiro told his son good naturedly.

“I didn’t want to be a bother.” Rin mumbled again.

“You’re not being a bother.” Shiro put his hands on Rin’s shoulders and knelt down to his level. “You were only just rescued from a very bad experience and are still recovering, it’s understandable that you’d need help.”

“I guess.” Rin said, understanding his father’s words.

“I know, it’s hard to let go of what you’re feeling, even though you know something’s not true.” Shiro said.

Rin only nodded.

“Now, you sit down, I’ll finish your food for you.” Shiro said, guiding Rin to sit.

Rin was too exhausted to protest, allowing himself to be put in a chair.

As it turned out, Rin’s food was almost ready and was quite well-prepared considering Rin’s physical condition. There was enough for a bowl each, so Shiro placed two bowls on the table and sat down opposite Rin.

“This is really good.” Shiro complimented after taking a bite.

“Thanks.” Rin said, eating his own food. “I was the designated cook of our group.”

Shiro put down his fork to look at his son.

“Each week we would go on a supply run, we’d work out how much we’d have, and then I’d cook it for everyone. Mami said that I could make even the worst packaged foods taste amazing.” Rin continued, staring off into space.

“Rin…” Shiro said.

“We’d always go to the same shop. It was the safer to do that because we all knew our way around it.” Rin didn’t seem to hear him. “Always the same shop.”

Shiro stood up and walked around the table, moving Rin to face him.

“Rin.” He repeated.

“For years.” Rin looked up at Shiro, eyes watering. “It never ran out of food for us. Why didn’t I realise?”

Shiro pulled Rin into his arms as the young child fell into another round of hysterics upon realising the clues that he’d been living in a false reality he’d missed.

“Shh.” Shiro comforted as Rin sobbed into his shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”

The emotional episode was thankfully a short one and the two were able to sit back at the table. Though, this time, Rin was perched on Shiro’s lap as they ate their now lukewarm food, still too fragile to be away from his comfort.

“How are you feeling?” Shiro asked once they finished eating.

Rin shrugged, he didn’t know how to put what he felt into words.

“Are you leaving again?” He asked instead.

Shiro sighed. “I am. I’m sorry that I can’t spend all my time with you like I want to, but it’s important that I finish this case.”

“It’s Mami, isn’t it?” Rin asked, shocking Shiro slightly with his perceptiveness. “You’re trying to find her, so she can’t take me again.”

“I am.” Shiro decided not to lie.

“Will you kill her?”

It was a difficult question for Shiro to answer in front of Rin.

“Rin, remember that Mami is a dangerous demon who took you away from Yukio and I, and she hurt all the friends you had while she had you too.” Shiro said instead of answering.

“I know.” Rin said. “Mami loved me…But…but…daddy…I’m scared of her coming for me.”

“I won’t let her take you, Rin.” Shiro said, giving his son another hug. “That’s why I’m working so hard to stop her.”

Rin obviously didn’t know how to feel about it all.

“Actually, I’ve brought home someone to protect you while I’m gone.” Shiro said.

Shiro guided Rin out of the kitchen and to the living room, setting the young boy down on one of the sofas and leading down to pick something up.

“This is Kuro.” Shiro placed the Cat Sidhe on Rin’s lap.

Rin’s eyes widen at the cat, cautiously petting him.

“He has two tails.” Rin said.

Shiro hoped that his son’s experience with Mami had given him a mashou, and not that his demon soul was starting to awaken.

“He’s a demon called a Cat Sidhe.” Shiro explained. “He’s my familiar, and he’s going to protect you from now on.”

“You’re giving him to me.” Rin looked down at Kuro in awe.

Kuro looked back up at him, meowing.

“I am.” Shiro nodded. “Now, I want you to keep Kuro with you at all times.”

“Even in the bathroom?” Rin questioned.

Shiro laughed at Rin’s question.

“Okay, he doesn’t need to be in the bathroom with you. But he’ll be by your side everywhere else.” Shiro amended.

When Kuro turned to Shiro, the Paladin could see the determination in his familiar’s eyes, assuring him that the demon would guard Rin with his life.

“And when this is all over, I’m going to spend all the time in the world with you, and we can go to any theme park that you want.” Shiro promised.

“Can Kuro come too?” Rin asked, smiling.

Shiro laughed again. He should have guessed that his son would get instantly attached.

“If you want him to.” He told his son.

Rin then yawned, clearly still tired.

“Alright, bedtime.” Shiro said.

They skipped brushing Rin’s teeth in favour of heading straight to bed. Shiro tucked Rin back in and Kuro jumped up to lay at the child’s side, one of Rin’s arms over him.

“Goodnight.” Rin yawned, closing his eyes.

“Night.” Shiro replied.

With how exhausted he was, it only took Rin seconds to fall asleep.

Shiro smiled down at him and patted his head before standing up.

He turned around to look at Yukio, who was thankfully still out like a light.

“Goodnight.” He whispered to his other son, patting his head too before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment  
> So, what do you think. I’ve tried to integrate Coraline into the world of Blue Exorcist and give the Beldams their own lore, but I don’t know how well I’ve done it. So, tell me if you think there are any details missing or if I didn’t explain something properly.  
> In regards to the part about Beldams teaming up with other demons to help them catch children, it’s a reference to the original book. In the book, the tunnel connecting the real and other world is basically alive and Coraline feels that it’s aware of her presence. The Coraline stuff added is basically a mash-up of the book and movie.


	8. She comes at night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mami comes for another of the children and it's time for Yukio to leave home

Unlike her fellow rescued children, June had shown a remarkable recovery from her time with Mami. While the girl admitted still having some form of attachment to the Beldam, she had fully accepted being told that the older girl had been a demon and had not tried to deny it like the others. And she had also regained control of her motor functions much quicker than her friends.

As Coraline had explained, this was due to June being Mami’s last victim before her lair was discovered, only being captured a couple of weeks beforehand, rather than anything special about the girl. Mami’s hold over June was comparably weaker than the other children, who had been under the Beldam’s hold for much longer.

That wasn’t to say that June was safe from Mami coming for her. There was still a connection formed from the girl’s time in the dream world, being watched over by Mami.

Which was what allowed Mami to track her down despite June and her family being moved to a safe house.

_“June…”_

The girl groaned as she was woken from her sleep.

“Mum?” She questioned, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

_“June…”_

June gasped as she became fully awake, realising who the voice belonged to.

“Mami?” She asked, looking towards her window where the curtains were drawn.

 _“June, it’s time to come home…”_ Mami’s voice echoed in June’s head.

“I am home.” June shook her head.

 _“Here is not our home…”_ Mami said. _“Here is not safe…Come, the others are waiting…”_

The others?

The other children.

June hadn’t seen them since the hospital, the Exorcist people said that they had to be kept apart for their safety.

She wanted nothing more than to see them again, to see that they were all alright with her own eyes.

And Mami could take her to see them again.

June suddenly drove her fist into her head, the pain snapping her back to reality.

“I-I can’t go with you.” She denied, shaking her head and stepping back.

She hadn’t even realised that she had been making her way over to the window.

 _“You must, Poppet…Only I can keep you all safe…”_ Mami told her.

“You’re the reason we’re in danger in the first place!” June cried at her curtains. “You don’t want to take care of us, you want to kill us!”

Mami said nothing in response, but June suddenly felt like ice was striking through her that froze her to the spot. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out, her throat seizing up and refusing to make a sound.

Then there came the pounding, the vibrations coming so hard that June was almost knocked off her feet.

The Exorcists guarding the house began to shout, then June heard the sound of fighting.

Mami’s scream of fury and pain forced June to her knees, gripping her head so hard that her nails drew blood.

June’s door then burst open and her parents ran in.

“Oh, June!” Her mother cried in relief upon seeing her. “My baby, you’re still here.”

“What’s wrong, June?” He father asked.

“It hurts.” June cried. “Mami, it hurts.”

The sound of fighting abruptly stopped and June collapsed to the floor, held up by her parents.

“She’s gone.” June sighed before passing out.

* * *

“How’s the girl?” Shiro asked.

“Miss Akami is fine, just exhausted, it seems.” One of the team.

“So, what happened, exactly?” Coraline asked.

“The Beldam tried to take Miss Akami the same way it did the prior two children, but when she refused to it attempted to take her by force. Thankfully, the Exorcists on site were able to match up to it, unfortunately she once again managed to run away.” The team member read off the report of what had happened. “For some reason, the fight had a negative effect on Miss Akami and she passed out.”

“Mami must have tried to draw on Miss Akami’s energy through their connection to bolster her strength.” Coraline said. “Thankfully, it wasn’t enough to beat the exorcists and wards there.”

“So, we’ll be able to fend her off?” One of the team asked hopefully.

Coraline shook her head. “We won this time because Miss Akami’s connection to Mami is weaker than the other children and she was able to deny it. The other children won’t be as strong and the wards and exorcists won’t be enough to stop them going to her. Not to mention, Mami will grow stronger with each child she reclaims, so she’ll eventually be able to take Miss Akami by force like she tried to.”

“This may be a small victory for us.” Shiro said. “But it has also told us an unfortunate detail. The Beldam will be able to track the children down, not matter where they are, so we can’t hide them.”

“With Miss Akami able to resist it and being well enough protected for now, who will Mami go after next?” Coraline asked.

“The other children are Hamada Jiro, Sakura Emi and…” One of the team began to list off.

“My son.” Shiro finished for them.

“With how well warded and guarded the Paladin’s home is, I don’t think the demon will go after him next.” One of the team offered their opinion. “It would be too risky for it.”

“But the Beldam could use their connection to get him without getting anywhere near the wards.” Another of the team pointed out. “Shiro, do you know how strong the connection is?”

“Rin has acknowledged that Mami is a demon who would hurt him but admits that he still feels a desire to be with her again.” Shiro answered after steeling himself. “Though, I have Kuro, my Cait Sith familiar, guarding him now.”

“I had heard about him leaving his post at True Cross.” One of the team muttered to himself.

“That does sound like enough protection to keep her away, for now.” Coraline said. “Mami may do anything to get her children back, but she won’t stupid enough to go past her limits either.”

“Meaning the demon will either go after Mr Hamada or Miss Sakura.” One of the team said.

“What’s their situation like?” Shiro asked.

“Miss Sakura still insists that the Beldam isn’t evil, though seems content with her family and only asks for the demon occasionally. Mr Hamada is unsure about what he’s been told, he still clearly wants the demon but was one of the children who saw the demon’s transformation as so is also afraid of her.”

“Miss Sakura seems to be the bigger risk.” Shiro hummed. “Still, the Beldam could go for either. Make sure that one of the parents or an exorcist is with the child at all times.”

“Yes, sir.”

Shiro sighed. “Any news on finding the lair?”

“We’ve managed to search all the abandoned homes in the area, a few low-level demons were in some of them, but none related to the Beldam.” He was told. “We’re still in the process of finding and searching the homes of those who have recently passed away or haven’t been heard from in a while.”

“Any chance it could be moving around instead of settling in a lair?” Shiro turned to Coraline.

Coraline shook her head. “A Beldam can be best likened to a spider.” She said. “They need a lair, it’s the place where they can be in the most control, their magic seeping into the area around them and allowing them to manipulate it, and also as a place to keep their victims

“At least we have that.” Shiro said. “If it’s staying in one place, we can find it.”

* * *

Rin sat on his bed as he watched Yukio pack the remainder of his things into his bag.

If asked, the boy would definitely deny it, but he was pouting.

“I know this isn’t fair, Rin.” Yukio sighed. “And if I could, I’d stay.”

“I know.” Rin pouted, looking away. “But you’re still going away.”

Yukio zipped up his bag before walking over to Rin’s bed and sitting down next to him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll visit as often as I can. I can’t guarantee every weekend, but I’ll try, and I’ll definitely be home for the holidays. So, we’ll get to spend our birthday together like we used to.”

Rin smiled. “That’d be nice.” He said.

It’d been so long since either of them had shared their birthday, Rin himself having stopped counting them in the timeless city.

Rin frowned as his thoughts were drawn back to Mami.

“What is it?” Yukio spotted his change in demeanour.

“It’s nothing.” Rin mumbled.

“It’s not nothing if you’re looking like that, Rin.” Yukio argued.

Rin still refused to say anything, but it wasn’t hard for Yukio to guess what it was about.

“Is it about the d-Mami?” He asked, stumbling over his words so as to not accidently upset his bother.

Hesitantly, Rin nodded.

“Don’t worry.” Yukio brought Rin into a one-armed hug. “Even though I’m not going to be here much anymore, you’re safe here. The house has special protections to keep demons out, some of the strongest you can get, and the other priests will be here when dad and I aren’t. And don’t forget Kuro.”

They looked over to where Kuro was napping at the foot of Rin’s bed.

“Plus, I made this for you.” Yukio continued.

He reached inside his pocket and brought out a carved pendant, handing it to Rin.

Rin looked at the pendant in his hands in awe.

“You made this for me?” He questioned.

“Yes.” Yukio smiled. “It’s a special pendant that will always allow me to find you, no matter what. So, make sure that you always wear it. Okay?”

“Okay.” Rin nodded, taking the string of the pendant and looping it over his head. “I’ll never take it off.” He promised.

“Yukio, you need to bring your bags down!” One of the priests called from downstairs.

“Coming!” Yukio called back.

Rin quickly went back to pouting as Yukio got up to grab his bags and walked out the bedroom door with them.

* * *

In the end, it almost took a crowbar to pry a crying Rin from Yukio when it finally came time for the older brother to leave.

As Yukio climbed into the taxi set to take him to True Cross and it drove off, Rin’s cries dying out behind him, he felt like the worst brother in the history of the Earth, having to fight the urge to jump out of the taxi and run back to his brother all the way to True Cross.

Not far from the monastery, a set of eyes watched the proceedings, taking note of the absence of the Paladin and the fact that the older brother was leaving home. Meaning that Rin only had the four priests to protect him.

Perfect.

“Time to come home, my little angel.” Mami whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment  
> Shorter than usual, but I wanted to put what happens next in a separate chapter


End file.
